How to score Wingspan at the end of the game

The six categories on the scorepad

Most of Wingspan's scoring happens at the very end. According to the rulebook from Stonemaier Games, the game ends at the conclusion of round 4, and only then do players use the scorepad to add everything up. The box includes a scorepad of 50 sheets, and one sheet is used for all players in a game.

The scoresheet splits the categories into two groups. Three of them are worth the amount printed on the cards or the board: birds, bonus cards and end-of-round goals. The other three are worth 1 point each: eggs, food on cards and tucked cards.

Worth what is printed

Birds are scored at the value printed on each bird card you have played. Bonus cards are all scored at the end of the game according to what each card asks for; the rulebook points to its appendix for how each type is scored. End-of-round goals are the points you earned on the goal board at the end of each of the four rounds.

Worth 1 point each

Eggs count 1 point for each egg sitting on a bird card. Food on cards means food tokens cached on your birds, 1 point each. Tucked cards are cards tucked under your birds, also 1 point each.

End-of-round goals: green side and blue side

The goal board is double-sided, and the side you play changes how goal points are earned. The rulebook calls the green side the default, for a game with more direct competition. Each round awards places by who has the most of the targeted item: 4, 1 and 0 points in round 1; 5, 2 and 1 in round 2; 6, 3 and 2 in round 3; 7, 4 and 3 in round 4. Fourth and fifth place score nothing.

Ties on the green side are split. Tied players add the points for the tied place and the place or places below it, divide by the number of players who tied, and round down. The rulebook's example: on the goal that scores 5, 2 and 1, two players tied for first each get 3 points, because 5 plus 2 is 7 and half of 7 rounds down to 3. No one else gets second place. You also need at least one of the targeted item to score anything for that goal.

The blue side is less competitive. Each player scores 1 point per targeted item, up to a maximum of 5 points per round.

Either way, players mark their result with an action cube on the goal board at the end of each round, even when they score 0. That cube comes out of the next rounds' supply, which is why rounds 1 to 4 give each player 8, 7, 6 and 5 turns. At the end of the game you simply read the four results off the board and add them up.

Ties and the winner

The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the rulebook gives the win to the player with the most unused food tokens. If players are still tied after that, they share the victory.

Because the tiebreaker uses food tokens, check them before anyone sweeps the table clear. A tie is decided by what is still on the table at the end, and it cannot be settled once the tokens are back in the box.

Counting without recounting

The scoresheet runs one category at a time, and it is easiest to follow it the same way across the whole table: everyone calls out their bird points, then everyone's bonus cards, then goals, then eggs, cached food and tucked cards. One person writes while the others count their own mats.

Count the 1-point categories bird by bird rather than trying to tally a whole row at a glance. Eggs, cached food and tucked cards all sit on or under the same cards, and it is easy to count one bird twice or skip one in the middle of a crowded row. Leave the table as it is until every total has been written down, so anything that looks wrong can be counted again.

Expansions add to the sheet. Stonemaier's page for the Oceania expansion describes nectar scoring at game end: in each habitat, the player with the most nectar gains 5 points and second place gains 2. If you play with an expansion, make sure your scoresheet has the extra row before you start adding.

Common scoring mistakes

Forgetting tucked cards. They sit under the bird and are easy to miss, especially on birds that tuck repeatedly. Each one is a point.

Skipping cached food. Food on a bird card is not leftover food; it scores 1 point per token as food on cards.

Splitting a green-side tie wrong. Tied players share the tied place and the next place, then round down. They do not each take the full points for the place they tied on.

Scoring a goal with none of the item. On the green side you need at least one of the targeted item to earn a place, even if you would otherwise be ranked.

If you would rather not add the columns by hand, TallyDeck's Wingspan sheet has a row for each of the six categories, moves to the next box after every entry so one person can total the whole table, and shows totals and places as the numbers go in.

Frequently asked questions